Russian president Vladimir Putin was received by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on his arrival following which he reached Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official residence Lok Kalyan Marg.

New Delhi: Russian premier Vladimir Putin on Thursday arrived in New Delhi for a two-day visit for the annual India-Russia summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders are expected to ink the S-400 air defence system deal among other key issues, including the US sanctions on Iranian crude oil.

Putin was received by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on his arrival following which he reached his counterpart’s official residence Lok Kalyan Marg, where they held a one-on-one meeting. The prime minister hosted a private dinner for the dignitaries and Russian president.

On Friday, the two leaders will hold the 19th India-Russia annual summit. The agenda of the summit is expected to be a discussion on bilateral, regional, and international issues, as reported by news agency PTI. The two will also discuss the US sanctions against Russia and cooperation on counter-terrorism.

Putin is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov among others, according to PTI. Today, upon the arrival of the Russian president, Modi tweeted, “Welcome to India, President Putin. Looking forward to our deliberations, which will further enhance India-Russia friendship,” followed by a tweet in Russian.

A Russian news agency also reported today that at the summit, the two countries will sign a number of bilateral agreements, one of them being USD 5 billion arms deal of delivery of S-400 air defence missile to New Delhi. The same was quoted by Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov ahead of his visit. He also said that the signing of the deal will be overseen by Putin and Modi.

While all the noise is around the arms deal, if signed, it could violate the sanctions by the US under Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which is initiated by the US Congress on purchases of arms from Russia.